New Grit and Lime Spreader
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TO meet a need for equipment to be used in lime spreading, or for road gritting, a new low-loading model has been introduced by Fairfield International' Spreaders, Waterswallows Road, Buxton. The prototype has been built on a four-wheel-drive ex-W.D. Canadian Ford, but the design is adaptable to a wide variety of chassis.
The body in question has a hopper capacity of 5 tons and a loading height of 5 ft. 2 ins., or with side panel down, 4 ft. 3 ins.
As a lime spreader, the equipment will give distribution over 30-40 ft. and will work at a rate of cwt. to 4 tons per acre. If it be desired to use the machine for road work, such as gritting after tar spraying, or in winter when slippery surfaces are encountered, alternative spinners can be employed in the distribution mechanism,. ' The spinner equipment can be quickly removed, . . leaving the vehicle in the form of a moving-floor tipper.
1n the new low-loader, a 4-ft, moving belt is mounted on main rollers, which have 14-in, shafts and on intermediate rollers with 1 stationary spindles. The stationary spindles locate the two sides of the body and are integral parts of the hopper design.
From the power take-off the drive runs through two Hardy Sp:cer shafts, with centre bearing, to a transmission box located at the rear of the back axle. A chain drive on an extension of the input shaft operates the spreader, whilst a chain from the output shaft drives the belt; the spreader runs six times as fast as the belt., The movement of the floor brings the material into contact with the inclined rear end of the hopper in which is located a 4-ft. gate that can be moved to fine limits, being iaised by a closethread screw-gear handle.
The single worm shaft on to which the material fa3ls has a two-directional arrangement, feeding from the sides into the centre section for the final spreading movement.
Of robust construction, the Fairfield low-loader is bolted throughout to facilitate repairs in the field. For the roller chains a drip-feed lubrication system has been evolved, which works from a small tank on the side of the body, but at other points grouped lubrication is used.
A low-loading trailer spreader is also being manufactured which has a hopper capacity of 2i-3 tons and a height of 4 ft. 1 in. with the side door up. Intended for use with tractors, and driving from the power take-off, the trailer model costs £265_ The Fairfield half-track spreader, which has a hopper capacity of 6-7 tons, continues in production and sells at £1,000, based on an ex-WD. International half-track chassis.